


The Lengths He Would Go

by afteriwake



Series: A Thousand Suns [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-16
Updated: 2012-10-16
Packaged: 2017-11-16 10:43:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He could still protect people, or at least that was what Riruka thought. He just needed to think it, too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lengths He Would Go

  
_So come down / far below  
We've been waiting to collect the things you know  
Come down / far below  
We've been waiting to collect what you've let go_   
Linkin Park, “Blackout”   


He would do anything for his friends. He'd give up his time, his money...he'd even been faced with giving up his life for his friends. So giving up his powers to give Ichigo back his, he would do that with no thought. Ichigo was not the person he used to be. He needed to be that person again. Maybe not quite the same, because each experience in battle, each physical scar, each mental toll...they would change any person. But with his powers back, he would be himself again.

Hueco Mundo had been a different experience for him then it had been for the others. He hadn’t done as much fighting, he hadn’t had to do as much protecting. He had been by himself for most of it, and when it came down to things he had lost. He was still alive, he knew that, but that was more thanks to outward help than personal strength. In a way, he felt as though he had failed.

He was lost in his thoughts and didn’t notice that Riruka was looking at him strangely until she took five steps forward and invaded his personal space. Only then did he look up at her from his seated position. “Hey.”

“What’s with all the brooding?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Reliving the past,” he said.

She looked at him, then narrowed her eyes slightly. He could tell she was doing it because she was thinking, not because of her eyesight. “Does it have to do with Ichigo?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

She waited for a moment before she made a slight noise. “And?”

He looked at her for a moment. She may be rude and cocky sometimes, but she seemed to be a decent person. She may not understand everything that had happened to him, but that might not be much of a problem. “I failed to help save a friend of mine and Ichigo’s.”

“Is the friend alive?”

“Yes.”

“Then does it really matter?” she asked. “I mean, aside from the pride thing.”

He nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“So…what are you going to do about it? Your friend’s alive, right? And even without your powers you could probably still protect him…her…”

“Her,” he said.

“Her. So, why not just protect her as much as you can? Whatever it is you went through may have sucked, and you may not have been the one to actually save her, but you have a chance now to keep her safe. So…do it. Keep her safe.”

He nodded again, thinking it over. He could still protect Orihime from some threats, if he started being around her more. And he did like her, liked her company. It would be good to have some old friends back, and not just Ichigo. Truth be told, he missed them. “I can do that.”

“See? Easy.” She turned. “I think we should go see what’s happening with Ichigo. I hear stuff that doesn’t sound good.”

Chad stood up quickly. Ichigo needed to get his powers back, needed to be himself again. And if this training was what was going to do it, he’d back him up 100%. Without another word to Riruka, he went to the dollhouse and looked. It was time to help an old friend again.


End file.
